“You can’t hold me
I’m too slippery
I do no sleepin’
I get lonely
You can touch me
If you want to
I got poison
I just might bite you

Lie in circles
On the sunlight
Shine like diamonds
On a dark night
Ain’t no mercy
In my smilin’
Only fangs and
Sweet beguiling …”

Filed under: Musical Mondays]]>http://edenbaylee.com/2015/03/30/music-monday-townes-van-zandt-sings-snake-song/feed/4edenbayleeASiP coverA Profile of author Doreen Cox (@DCoxAuthor)http://edenbaylee.com/2015/03/28/a-profile-of-author-doreen-cox-dcoxauthor/
http://edenbaylee.com/2015/03/28/a-profile-of-author-doreen-cox-dcoxauthor/#commentsSat, 28 Mar 2015 22:16:08 +0000http://edenbaylee.com/?p=20242Continue reading →]]>I met Doreen (Dody) Cox via a mutual author friend, Lisette Brodey. Her kind and spirited nature made it easy for us to become friends, and we have crossed paths regularly over the past months on various platforms.

Dody is a strong advocate for indie writers, and I am more than happy to give space to such a generous author.

Dody recently relaunched her memoir called Adventures in Mother-Sitting. She wrote about it via a blog on Lisette’s site. Find out what her experience was as a full-time caregiver to her mother, coping with dementia.

I encourage you to connect to Dody. She’s a lovely woman to have in your social network.

BUY LINK

For a daughter, at age 61, being called “mommy” by her own mother was a heart-wrenching experience. This happened to the author during the course of a three-year adventure as the full-time caregiver to her mother, much loved yet caught up in a downward spiral of physical, mental, and developmentally regressed disabilities.

Each day is an adventure because when dementia is present, the typical actions involved with daily care habits become unpredictable. The experience is also termed an adventure because of the surprising twists and turns of emotion that arose in the author, compelling her to recognize and face deep-seated fears and unwanted emotional reactions when her performance was not in accord with the spiritual vision that she had of herself. Moments of comic relief would save the author from the depths of despair during pill-taking and messy hygienic episodes, and her mother’s nighttime delusions. The mantra that kept the author going was an echo of her mother’s life-long response to any calamitous event: you can do what you have to do.

ADVENTURES IN MOTHER-SITTING is not just a chronicle about the dementia-induced antics of an independent, spirited mother as she approaches the time of her death. The book is also about a daughter’s journey through an emotional rollercoaster passage of grief that gets intermixed with surprising sweet instances of joyful connections with not only her childlike mother but, also, her innermost self. Throughout the book, the author portrays the ways in which the physical and mental needs of an old-age mother and the emotional, spiritual needs of a caregiver daughter lovingly serve each other and how the dementia serves them both.

The memoir depicts not only the role changes that occur in the relationship between a caregiver daughter and her beloved mother but, also, the more compassionate relationship that the daughter gains with herself as she learns to walk more honestly and gently with her fears, worries, and shortcomings.

* * *

Dody has also written a short story called A Sacred Journey.

Escaping at night from her home into a nearby forest, Leah is expected by the animals that live there. Communicating via mind-speak, one animal with mystical powers and two others guide Leah to a sacred clearing wherein lies a magical moonstone. It is here that Leah will encounter someone from her past, a beloved whose presence initiates a sacred, everlasting ceremony.
Leah’s escape and trek is revealed in counterpoint to the experiences of four trackers who are continuously confounded by strange, unexplainable situations. Unbeknownst to them at the time, forest animals are creating subterfuge situations to thwart the trackers’ ability to find Leah and bring her home. When they find her at last, the trackers experience a life-changing event, one that bridges a gap between their beliefs about reality and their wonderings regarding the mysterious unknown.

A Sacred Journey is a short story that embodies four major themes that are central to my outlook on life: first, be willing to see everything and everyone around me with fresh eyes. Second, stay open-minded as to the element of mystery that exists in our world. Third, affirm the sacredness inherent in the time of dying—beyond specific religious views. These three themes are enfolded in threads of humor, the fourth theme.

Find Doreen (Dody) at all her virtual homes

Born with a sense of wanderlust, Doreen (Dody) Cox had a somewhat convoluted career path, working in various business-related and mental health occupations. When dementia began to debilitate her mother, Dody resigned from her job as group counselor at an alternative school in order to take on an unforeseen endeavor: become her mother’s care bear. It was after her mother’s death that Dody’s path took another unexpected turn. She chose to honor her mother’s long-held wish: for her to write a book. ADVENTURES IN MOTHER-SITTING is Dody’s first publication, a memoir that emerged from the pages of her journal. Writing was a steadying outlet throughout the three years that dementia took her and her mother on an unpredictably tumultuous, yet heartwarming adventure.

Currently, Dody lives in her native Florida and works part-time, teaching a GED class comprised of multicultural adults in one of her favorite places: a library. She continues to write and has recently published A SACRED JOURNEY, a fictional story with themes relating to nature, spirituality, hope, and dignity in death.

In 1918 young Zacharias Nielsen boards a ship in Copenhagen to join the Red Guards in the Finnish Civil War. Encouraged by an idolised teacher with communist leanings, he follows the call for help from his Nordic Comrades, despite his privileged background.

His best friend, Ansgar, has opposing political ideals to Zacharias but, for his own personal reasons, finds himself soon stuck in the Scandinavian North with Zacharias and Raisa, a Finnish nurse who helps them in their new life.
Through the years that follow the brotherly war the trio see the political landscape in Finland and Europe change as Communists and Fascists try to make their mark and attempt to change the world order.
Our heroes must find their own personal and ideological place in these turbulent times as friendship, honour, idealism and love triangles bring out some personal truths.

The book spans almost thirty years of history and the various Finnish conflicts: Civil War, Winter War, Continuation War and the Lapland War. Watch the political and personal self discovery of characters in search of their own revolution.

Connect to Christoph

Christoph Fischer was born in Germany as the son of a Sudeten-German father and a Bavarian mother. Not a full local in the eyes and ears of his peers he developed an ambiguous sense of belonging and home in Bavaria. He moved to Hamburg in pursuit of his studies and to lead a life of literary indulgence. After a few years he moved on to the UK where he is still resident today.
He completed a historical “Three Nations Trilogy” in 2013, comprising of “The Luck of the Weissensteiners”, “Sebastian” and “The Black Eagle Inn.”
In May 2014 he published his first contemporary novel “Time To Let Go” in May.
He has written several other novels which are in the later stages of editing and finalisation.

* * * *

Filed under: Author Promotions]]>http://edenbaylee.com/2015/03/25/christoph-fischer-goes-in-search-of-a-revolution-newrelease-cffbooks/feed/15edenbayleein search of a revolutionflourishchristoph w/ dogMusic Monday — Shivaree sings THE SNAKEhttp://edenbaylee.com/2015/03/23/music-monday-shivaree-sings-the-snake/
http://edenbaylee.com/2015/03/23/music-monday-shivaree-sings-the-snake/#commentsMon, 23 Mar 2015 04:07:10 +0000http://edenbaylee.com/?p=20212Continue reading →]]>Here is one of the songs that helped inspire my upcoming novella, A Snake in Paradise, due out April 7th. Hit the cover to read my post on it if you missed it last week.

April Wood of A WELL READ WOMAN describes herself as an aspiring romance author, book blogger, author interviewer, and a caffeinated book reviewer.

In addition to all the above, I’d describe her as simply FABULOUS! She’s a wonderful interviewer and I was honored to be invited on her blog.

Hop over and read the interview by hitting the image below.

Thanks for reading, and be sure to connect to April on all her great sites!

eden

**

Filed under: Eden's Guest Blogs & Interviews]]>http://edenbaylee.com/2015/03/22/an-interview-with-aprillwood-of-a-well-read-woman/feed/6edenbayleeAWRWAWRW2New Release ~ BREAKABLE THINGS by #poet @LorenKleinmanhttp://edenbaylee.com/2015/03/21/new-release-breakable-things-by-poet-lorenkleinman/
http://edenbaylee.com/2015/03/21/new-release-breakable-things-by-poet-lorenkleinman/#commentsSat, 21 Mar 2015 04:30:27 +0000http://edenbaylee.com/?p=20176Continue reading →]]>Congratulations to poet and friend, Loren Kleinman who is releasing a new book March 25th! I’ve met and heard Loren read in NYC, and she is terrific. I recommend her work without reservation.

Breakable Things is currently available for pre-order, so pick it up ahead of the crowd. Loren has kindly written a guest blog to give you a taste of her book. Enjoy!

* * * *

Five Ways of Seeing Breakable Things

1. It’s the hairline crack in a cup that I don’t see right away. The length of the split stretches down to the base of the wide expanse. I hold it in my hands and I’m in a sea of tea. I take a chance and sip from its lip. Waves drip down my chin.

2. Last night the wind howled, sounded like a helicopter breaking apart in the air. It’s wings held back by the wind reached out in pieces. Its breath was a shard that sliced against the pane.

It’s just one aspect of this apartment life: the split from the inside. But I’ve seen this before. The yolk splits on the plate, runs off the bread. I remember when I split the egg, slept in the atom at the center of my Mama’s belly. I split her, once in half, too.

3. I love the cracks in my skin, the small lines, a web at the edge of my mouth. Love the time it takes for things like this to happen: age.

4. Now, I’m just a Goblin fish caught in a net. I was sold for salmon filet. My face was hideous; my mouth, a shotgun.

The woman that cut my belly ripped my intestines with her knife.

I loved once, in pieces.

5. I look back at the cup. Its break lets the light in. I see more clearly now, through the split, this new shape against my hand. It’s reflection in the window, mixed in with the wind; all the burst pieces of its breath reshape this fracture. I can almost feel the breeze in my hands.

Connect to Loren

Loren Kleinman is an American-born poet with roots in New Jersey. Her poetry explores the results of love and loss, and how both themes affect Loren_NYC-11an individual’s internal and external voice. She has a B.A. in English Literature from Drew University and an M.A. in Creative and Critical Writing from the University of Sussex (UK). Her poetry has appeared in literary journals such as Nimrod, Wilderness House Literary Review, Narrative Northeast, Writer’s Bloc, Journal of New Jersey Poets, Paterson Literary Review (PLR), Resurgence (UK), HerCircleEzine and Aesthetica Annual. She was the recipient of the Spire Press Poetry Prize (2003), was a 2000 and 2003 Pushcart Prize nominee, and was a 2004 Nimrod/Pablo Neruda Prize finalist for poetry.

In 2003, Spire Press (NYC) published her first collection of poetry Flamenco Sketches, which explored the relationship between love and jazz. Kleinman judged the literary entries for the book Alt-History: New Writing from Brighton published by QueenSpark Books (UK). She was also a contributing editor/writer for the Cancer Dancer by Patricia San Pedro. Kleinman is also a columnist for IndieReader.com (IR) where she interviews NYT bestselling indie authors. Many of those interviews in IR reappeared in USA Today and The Huffington Post.

Her second collection of poetry, The Dark Cave Between My Ribs released in 2014 (Winter Goose Publishing). She is the author of Indie Authors Naked (IndieReader Publishing, 2014), which was an Amazon Top 100 bestseller in Journalism in the UK and USA. She is also working on a literary romance novel, This Way to Forever.

Kleinman co-founded National Translation Month, a month long celebration on the craft of translation that publishes essays and poetry translations during February.

She has an author interview series on The Huffington Post Books community blogs section.

It’s been a crazy few weeks since bestselling author Toby Neal asked if I’d like to help launch her Lei Crime Series on Kindle World. I wrote about it here on my blog.

The novella is in final edits and I’m VERY PROUD to reveal the cover.

Voilà!

Isn’t it delicious! Huge thanks to the creator of my covers – JBGraphics. As always, he captures the essence of the story with just the right balance of image and color.

The Lei Crime Series launchesApril 7th, and I can’t wait for you to see all the other wonderful authors writing in this series.

* * * *

Here’s a synopsis of my story:

Hawaii was Lainey Lee’s dream destination long before she married. It should have been her honeymoon trip, but it was not meant to be. Now, in a poetic twist of fate, she is making the journey twenty-seven years later—following her divorce.

Once on the Big Island, Lainey experiences paradise as she has always imagined it—a picture-perfect landscape of white sand, turquoise water, and blue skies. She also encounters a mysterious stranger with whom she has an instant connection. Julian is charming, sensual, and interested in her. With a renewed sense of self, Lainey aims to shed her old skin and abandon her fears, but will she find out too late that there is more than one type of snake in paradise?

* * * *

Stay tuned for more as we get closer to launch date!

~eden

Filed under: Important Announcements, Writing Joint Ventures]]>http://edenbaylee.com/2015/03/18/cover-reveal-a-snake-in-paradise-my-leicrimekw-novella/feed/34edenbayleeASiP coverMusic Monday — Closing Timehttp://edenbaylee.com/2015/03/16/music-monday-closing-time/
http://edenbaylee.com/2015/03/16/music-monday-closing-time/#commentsMon, 16 Mar 2015 04:23:24 +0000http://edenbaylee.com/?p=20170Continue reading →]]>Today is the release day for the anthology Triptychs, in which I have two stories. My story “Last Call” is a tale about a woman who pursues sobriety. What happens to her is deliciously dark … Just when you thought it was safe to stop drinking. Ha!

Here’s Leonard Cohen with a song about last calls. If you’re interested in picking up the anthology, I’ve included the links below. ;)

Award-winning Danish poet and photographer Helle Gade interviewed me on her blog. She is also one of two contributing photographers for the anthology Triptychs, which I’m proud to be a part of and releases March 16th. One of Helle’s photographs inspired my story “Last Call.”

Hop over and read the interview. Helle asked some interesting questions and I’d love it if you said hello. ;)

Triptychs is the third book in the Mind’s Eye Series, and I have TWO stories in this anthology. The price will be $3.99 when it publishes March 16th, but it’s available now at only 99 cents. I hope you’ll pre-order it and save some money too. ;)

The book combines visual art and the written word, and each photograph in the book inspired three different written pieces. Here are the pictures I had to work with and a bit about my stories.

* * * *

“Last Call” was inspired by this scenic photograph.

Photo credit: Helle Gade

I found the picture quite cheerful, but on the day I was writing the story, I was not in a cheerful mood. As such, I twisted the image in my mind and created an ominous, mysterious tale about a woman who pursues sobriety. What happens to her is deliciously dark.

Photo credit: Martin David Porter

“Swans” was inspired by the above photograph. I picked up on the swans in the picture and wrote a story about a young girl and her unique relationship with her parents. The story pays homage to Hans Christian Anderson’s “The Ugly Duckling.” It’s not quite a fable, but it is different from anything else I’ve written.

* * * *

If you want to learn more about the Mind’s Eye Series, visit Darcia Helle’s website, and discover the other two books in the series.